Smart Protection 2012 Description

[+] Click Image to Enlarge

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Smart Protection 2012 is a fake antivirus application that is installed by a Trojan infection. According to ESG security researchers, Smart Protection 2012 has absolutely no anti-virus capabilities. Although this fake antivirus program installs various files and has all external characteristics of a normal anti-virus application, Smart Protection 2012’s interface is just for show. This application belongs to an outstanding online scam created to take advantage of inexperienced computer users and to scam them into buying useless software. Smart Protection 2012 is a clone of other anti-virus programs such as Smart Internet Protection 2011, Smart Protection 2011 and Personal Internet Security 2011. The worst part of Smart Protection 2012 is the fact that Smart Protection 2012 will deliberately cause problems on the victim’s computer system in order to cause the victim to panic. If you have installed Smart Protection 2012 on your computer system, it is essential that you use a real anti-virus program to remove Smart Protection 2012 from your hard drive. Failure to remove Smart Protection 2012 makes your computer more vulnerable to additional malware infections as well as placing you at risk for identity theft. A good reason to remove Smart Protection 2012 is also the fact that your computer’s normal operation is severely affected as long as this fake security program remains on your hard drive.

How Smart Protection 2012 Attempts to Steal Your Money

The Smart Protection 2012 scam is quite simple. This fake antivirus program will tries to persuade its victim that their computer is under a severe malware attack. Then, Smart Protection 2012 will offer to remove the imaginary problem as long as the victim is willing to register Smart Protection 2012 by purchasing a registration code. Of course, since Smart Protection 2012 has no anti-virus capabilities, paying for this fake security program is not a good idea. Some ways in which Smart Protection 2012 attempts to convince its victims of the presence of a severe malware infection are listed below:

• Smart Protection 2012 displays constant fake error messages and security alerts, some of these appearing to come from the victim’s computer system rather than from Smart Protection 2012 itself.
• The presence of Smart Protection 2012 on a computer system will usually cause it to become slow and unstable, adding to the illusion of a severe malware attack.
• Smart Protection 2012 has also been known to cause browser redirects to malicious websites promoting rogue security programs. Smart Protection 2012 may also block user’s ability to connect to other websites.

Type: Rogue AntiSpyware Programs

How Can You Detect Smart Protection 2012?

‘How Smart Protection 2012 Infects Your Computer’ Video

Smart Protection 2012 Removal Details

Smart Protection 2012 has typically the following processes in memory:

• %CommonAppData%\\.exe

Smart Protection 2012 creates the following files in the system:

• %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Smart Protection 2012.lnk
• %CommonAppData%\[RANDOM CHARACTERS]\[RANDOM CHARACTERS]
• %AllUsersProfile%\[RANDOM CHARACTERS]\
• %CommonAppData%\[RANDOM CHARACTERS]\
• %UserProfile%\Desktop\Smart Protection 2012.lnk
• %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Smart Protection 2012.lnk

Smart Protection 2012 creates the following registry entries:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce “”
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “[1 RANDOM]”
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “[RANDOM CHARACTERS]”

Important Article Disclaimer